The silver coating is called Ironstone and is non-stick. The Wright instructions will tell you to season it first, but you don't need to. Just a light coating of something like Pam spray will work great. I always use Pam on when using the gingerbread molds even if I have seasoned them.
Which one did you get. The large Chateau (mold is taller than wide) or the smaller traditional house (mold is wider than tall)?
The molds make a beautiful house and are easy to use. You want to use a gingerbread recipe that is very stiff. The cake-like version you get in the store won't work. The Wright recipes work well (if you don't have them, I can give you a copy. If you call Wright, they will likely send you a copy too. The John Wright website is
www.jrwright.com ).
I refrigerate the dough, then push it into the mold tightly with my fingers leaving it a bit above the edge. I'll then take a bread knife trim the dough flush with the mold top. This does a couple things. First it makes it an even thickness so it bakes better. Second, the parts are more even, making assembly easier. When you take the parts out of the mold, they will be very flexible. Cool them on a wire rack to keep them flat.
I put any left over dough in a small Wright gingerbread men mold called All American.
Tom
